Antiquity (Era, AoC Universe)/Plot
This is the entire plotline for the first Aeon of the AoC Universe - Antiquity. Plot 'Light and Void' In the beginning, there was Light...and there was Void. The rival powers repelled each other, causing the universe the universe to settle into pattern. Light, stabilising and taking shape, gave birth to the Cosmics, who wanted the universe to have form. Void, ever chaotic and unstable, gave birth to the Dark Cosmics, who wished for things to remain chaotic and unordered. The subsequent war between the two powers resulted in the Dark Cosmics being permanently banished from reality. The exhaustive combat led to the Great Slumber, and the Cosmics settled into induced coma for the next million years. Photokinesis eventually turned some of their light magic into arcane, turning the Cosmics into titans. Formation and Ordering The Pantheon was founded by its leader and Highfather, [], after he awoke from the Great Slumber. Sending ripples of magic through the Great Unknown, he rallied the other titans to his location, and they began the Formation of the Universe. The Pantheon's servants were the Vanir, physical manifestations of light and sound, and assisted with this process. The process of Formation had re-activated the settled magics of the universe resulting in chain reactions that formed chaos planets - uninhabitate aberrations of immense power. To neutralise them, the Pantheon develops a new plane - the the Nether - and places them inside to seal them away from the world. The remaining orderly planets were housed inside world-trees to harmonise their energies. Light magic coalesced at the top of the spiritual plane, Arda, and undisturbed it created a serene, unspoiled realm of pure light. The Pantheon settled on it, and it became the site where new Vanir would be created (via the Golden Arch), and the Garor were enlisted in helping to build some of Elysium's greatest cities. Yet even before the construction of Elysium was complete, dark voices were already filling the minds of the Garor. Terrible voices. Twisted voices. The Dark Cosmics were speaking to them from their dimension. Knowing the Garor were key to their escape plan, they opened communications with Arta'Zul, the chief contractor of the citysmith race. The Dark Cosmics made the Garor an offer: bend their tools to their service, and they would be granted immense power that none had ever comprehended. For Arta'Zul, this was enough. He opened a tether between Arda and the void dimension, enough to channel its power into his body. And slowly but surely, the Garor as a race became more sinister and twisted. Eternal Conflict See main article in link below. Tartarus, annoyed by Elysium's expansion, launched a surprise attack against the Silver City, initiating the Eternal Conflict. Lucithel, the Lightbringer led the Angels into battle against the demon opposition. The siege was defeated and the Eastern Gate only suffered minor damage. Irmhild, the warmother, knew however that the attacks were not over. Elva, the wife of Olyrin, was shaken by the storming of the Silver City, and demanded an ever-increasing workload be placed on the Garor. She wanted security. Thus, great bastions of steel were established in the realm. Blankets of holy mist covered Aurealis. Most importantly, the Garor themselves were continuously monitored for any suspicious activity. Meinolf passionately argued against this, but his influence had declined in the aftermath of the Silver City's besieging. The sanctions increased, as did the attacks. Irmhild suggested a counter-raid against the demons in order to take out their offensive capabilities. Elva counterargued, stating that it would only provoke the demons further, and that safeguarding Heaven was more important. Aimar defended his decision to bring the Garor to Heaven in the first place by pointing to the glorious array of buildings overlooking the aural realm. Eventually, sick of the other gods' bickering, Olyrin announced that his wife was correct, and the Garor were to be kept a closer eye on in case they acted out of line. Meinolf despaired, believing the gods to be acting out of xenophobia, but he soon came to accept their decision and even support it. The Garor were watched over by the Aesir, Duterius in particularly being very suspicious of them and their work. He repeatedly imprisoned them in painful halos of light for interrogation purposes (a technique usually saved for demons), only to release them without charge. Isodael ordered the Scholari to document everything the smiths did, including how much magic they used, in order to prevent discrepancies. The depersonalisation of the Garor had no effect on the frequency of demonic raids, but it horrified the Garor themselves, who felt like they were being punished for helping the Pantheon. One day, a demon known as Belial the Pretender appeared at the gates of Elysium. Belial, using an unprecedented amount of magic in order to take angel form, announced that he was 'returning' from a scouting mission in Tartarus, and had important information regarding the state of the demonic opposition. The Vanir allowed him to enter into Heaven even though they were extremely suspicious of his backstory, as no scouts had been ordered into Tartarus for any reason. After breaching the Eastern Gate, which was still recovering from the Silver City's sudden siege, Belial marked the Heavengate with his demonic essence, intending to use it a guide to direct the demons into the gate so they could destroy the city. The next thing the angels knew, there were demons inside Elysium, something that had never happened before, and a thought that horrified the Pantheon. Their gates had proven ineffective. What's worse is that the Aesir didn't arrive until thousands of Vanir had perished defending the Silver City because Belial had led them into the middle of nowhere with his lies about the demon's whereabouts. Olyrin blamed the Garor, citing construction failures, and, unwilling to allow them to further threaten the survival of the city he had come to love so much, imprisoned them in Ironvault, the Plane of Punishment. The years came and went, yet there was no visible end to the crisis. The Pantheon were left deadlocked, unable to come to a conclusion on what was to happen. Olyrin was tempted to simply act on his own, but knew there was a limit to his autocracy. To this end, it was left to the Aegis Council to act. They convened at midnight in the Angiris Citadel, away from the Vanir, where it was decided that Irmhild was right all along and a pre-emptive strike against Hell was the best course of action. Duterius, Lucithel, Mezarael and Varian were dispatched into the south of Mendrassil, in order to reach Tartarus and locate the root source of the hellspawns. Meanwhile, Anariel and the other Aesir stayed behind to watch over Heaven in the moment. Garor Uprising See main article: Garor Rising up against the gods, the Garor decided that they would no longer serve the ungrateful Heavenly Host. Breaking free from Ironvault, one by one they charged out and set Vanaheim aflame. They had no permanent city to call their own; though they did have a village north of the Vanir city. As soon as the flames appeared, Elysium were thrown into discord. The fire, spurred on by the Garor's magic, quickly spread to the centre of Vanaheim and rapidly began approaching Serapheim. The Heavenly Host had concluded yet another session in the Halls of Excellence, where the gods of the Pantheon, one by one, made their way down the aisle as the Lyres sang their praises and exhalted their holy names. No sooner had they seen the towering inferno did they sound the alarms. The panic in their voices pierced Anariel's heart, and she departed from the Angiris Citadel to see what what going on. She was left horrified. Vanaheim was in utter flames, the Vanir were running like headless ducks, and for the first time, Elysium knew fear. Rallying the Vanir with the Blessing of Hope, Anariel led them to do battle with the demons - or so they thought. The arsonists were formidable foes, but eventually succumbed to the might of the angels. Rounding them up for interrogation, Anariel approached the leader of the rebels, only to discover that it was the leader of the Garor - Arta'Zul - and not a demon. As Arta'Zul explained, the demons weren't behind the Burning of Vanaheim, but rather the Garor themselves. The builders had become burners. The makers, now the takers. When Anariel asked him what kind of demonic spirit had possessed him to the point where he saw it within his rights to give and take freely, especially when his people were contractually bound to the Pantheon, Arta'Zul responded by saying that this was very rich coming from the same people who, after not so long ago soliciting their services, now seeked to imprison them within their own creations. Her heart searing with anger, Anariel drew her sword and martyred Arta'Zul on the spot. The other Garor were furious and attempted to attack her, but they were no match for an Aesir, and, with a final spell, she blasted them out of Elysium and into the Great Unknown. Following the end of the uprising, the Garor made good on their calling. Bending their instruments of construction into instruments of destruction, they became the void lords '''- die-hard servants of the Dark Cosmics - and to this day seek to bring their masters into the physical world. '''Coming of the Constellar The rebellious Garor were now out of the picture, but the damage had been done. After an assessment was carried out by Isodael, he concluded that while the aural energies of Heaven would over time naturally repair the city - slowly - the damage was for the most part, permanent. The Garor had sundered the walls of Vanaheim and left ashes scattered across its roads. Duterius, upon returning from Tartarus, described it as a "tear" in the delicate fabric of the Heavens. But on that note, he did bear some better news: the Aesir had managed to track the location of the demonic activity and had gathered enough intelligence to prepare for an assault on the Isle of Pyre, a key demonic fortification. All they needed to do was recover from the effects of the uprising and a new army could be raised within a few years. Knowing that Vanaheim needed repairs soon, the Pantheon met again in the Holy Sanctuary, where it was decided that they would venture back into the Great Unknown to seek out a more loyal race of citysmiths. Aimar departed from Elysium once again, along with a few of the now-homeless Vanir in case the demons attempted to assail Aimar for angelic raids on Tartarus. The resultant journey took Aimar all the way to the Orion Galactic Arm, but eventually the party stumbled across the Constellar. Composed of pure starmatter, the Constellar were capable of building without tools - all they needed were their hands. The Pantheon put them to work instantly, and within moments Vanaheim had been rebuilt. Following this process, Tartarus suffered a series of bitter blows to their power: first, an internal struggle for power between the Evils was causing scores of demons to kill each other, unlike in Heaven where angel-to-angel conflict was forbidden. Second, Duterius and Lucithel led a successful attack on the Isle of Pyre, assailing it first with light bombs, then storming the base and retrieving the Fire Crystal from within the Burning Caverns. The loss of the crystal sent Hell into a shutdown mode, and the frequency of demonic attacks slowed to a crawl. Irmhild's theory proved correct: proactive attacks were smarter than reactive defences. They even managed to capture a dreadlord and bring him back to hell for interrogation, where he, under pain of further torture, agreed to tell them everything he knew. Rise of the Shadows With Elysium relatively peaceful, time is given for other things. Sticking to the plan, the Aesir went on more reconissance trips to survey Hell's weakened defences. Lucithel, however, felt unease creeping into his heart. His Heavenly Perception sensed someone much more sinister than mere demons tugging at the fabric of creation. He felt that there was more than one dimension of evil, and with Hell on the brink of defeat, it was time for that evil to rear its ugly head. Wandering the unexplored mass of the Great Unknown, Lucithel noticed a mysterious figure shadowing him. When he turned around, it ran from him, as if afraid of his light. He cleaved it in two with ease, and without even being scratched, but this being interested him: there was no scream in pain when it died, unlike with demons. Deciding he had seen enough for the day, Lucithel returned to Elysium, without telling anyone what he had seen. He couldn't help but believe, however, that this creature reminded him of the shadows he dismissed several years ago. Lucithel continuously attempted to speak to the other Aesir about what he had seen, but they did not take him seriously - Duterius told him he was acting "strangely", Mezarel offered to "pray" for him, and Anariel took him to her Gardens of Hope for a drink of ambrosia to "medicate his mind". Eventually, Lucithel turned to the lowly Vanir, who seemed more willing to listen. Though at first they found it hard to believe, some of them shared his fears, secretly believing the Eternal Conflict was far from over, and the word 'Void' quickly became common-talk in angelic circles. Worrying that all this talk about a 'void' would distract the Vanir, the Aegis Council officially released a statement urging everyone not to get ahead of themselves (an ironic statement), further irritating Lucithel's sensibilities. Lucithel continued his holy duties of vanquishing demons wherever they were found, without his brothers and sisters in the Pantheon. He grew bitter and distant towards them. They were so fixated on their servitude of the gods that they forgot to look at the bigger picture. The Eternal Conflict wasn't everything, yet it was everything to them. His resentment caused Lucithel to drift away from the mindlink and ceased responding to telepathic messages from his fellow Aesir. During his travels, Lucithel came to realise that some of the demons he encountered were wielding void energies. This confirmed one of his previous beliefs: that shadow magic was still in effective usage. Nevertheless, he had encountered it before, and continued his work. It was only until his attention turned to a spot that didn't look quite right that his attitude changed drastically. An area of the universe, he observed, looked irregular. It seemd twisted and malformed, as if it were out of place. Taking a closer look, he deduced that it had to have been corrupted by something - but he was unsure as to what was behind it. The only way to find out was to take a closer look, and now that he was free from the Aegis Council, he could actually inside. Lucithel was horrified. What he had discovered wasn't an irregularity. It was a tear in the fabric of the universe, with unstable magic seeping out of it. Lucithel's descent into the tear exposed him to an otherwordly dimension, where planets collided and all sorts of energy tore at each other like conjoined dragons. This was the Nether, a plane of unimaginable power. The planets of the Nether were of particular interest to him. One of the planets, he noticed, was almost completely consumed with dark energy. There were smaller creatures, basking in the nightmarish magics of the black world, while a monsterous hunk of matter stooped over the planet, as if devouring it piece by piece. Unable to stand by, Lucithel entered the black world and interrogated its inhabitants by binding them in halos of light. The exasperated darklings told him all they could: the monstrous beings were Dread Elders, physical manifestations of shadow magic: and they were parasitically using the chaos planets as a source of energy to facilitate the creation of a link between the Universe and the Void. If it worked, the Dark Cosmics would return to sunder the world. Back at Elysium, the other Aesir were waiting on news from Lucithel. The argument between himself and his brothers and sisters in the Council had cooled off, and, disagreements on the fate of the Void aside, they longed for his light-bringing presence. Mezarel ordered the messenger angel, Sachael, after his wayward brother. As for the Lightbringer, however, flashbacks of Vanaheim were enough. Lucithel drew his sword and cleaved Vaa'lak in two, then went on a murderous rampage across Euratius, purging the planet of all life. Finishing off, he cast Final Judgement - a spell usually saved for life-threatening situations - and in an awesome display of arcane magic, the planet ruptured and tossed its energies across the Cosmos, covering Lucithel's wings with ash. The destruction of Euratius made him feel better, but gave away his location, and Sachael found him and approached him. Asking him whether he was faring well, Lucithel stated that he was not, for he had seen ugly things - and then proceeded to tell him about the Darklings and the horrible energies of the Void they utilised. He ordered Sachael back to the Pantheon to report what he had told him. Sachael persisted, saying that he had 'holy orders' to bring Lucithel back to Elysium. Angrily, Lucithel threatened to quarter the messenger if he didn't go away. Sachael cheekily replied, in the face of death, laughing that if he was killed Lucithel would only damage his standing in the sight of the other angels, after which he was promptly decapitated by the Lightbringer, who threw his head back into Heaven as a warning. The Fusion Staff See main article: Fusion Staff The Aesir continued to lead the charge against Tartarus, who were by now seriously waning in power having lost the Fire Crystal thousands of years ago. The Aegis Council however, decided that Lucithel's absence is long-term, and thus they begin to scout a replacement for him. Knowing none of the Vanir to be qualified enough, Meinolf designed the Fusion Staff concept - a supermagical weapon capable of delivering high profile arcane blasts in any direction. The Aegis Council re-convened in the Angiris Citadel of the Silver City, without Lucithel, and they agreed to donate some of their power to the cause. The faithful Constellar returned to their lab to synthesise the pieces, and the Pantheon approved of the operation retrospectively (as they were now at the point where the governing of Heaven was mostly done by the Aesir; they took a backstage role). The Staff was eventually formed and, with an almighty heave, Olyrin disintegrated the Hellish Horde, bringing hundreds of thousands of demons to their deaths in a single strike. Aiming at the mouth of Hell itself, he fired, causing an arcane explosion that created the Screeching Abyss, named so due to the noise made by demons who had fallen inside. For the next epoch, there were no demonic attacks on Heaven. Expeditionary forces led by Duterius and Mezarel (who had, de facto, taken up Lucithel's position as one of the Big Three Aesir) entered the twisted caverns and hollowed hallways of Tartarus, yet found nothing. No demons to torment them. No wandering hellspirits. The ruins of the Isle of Pyre - obviously not rebuilt - acted as an unofficial mass grave. The Hells also, pretty much, ceased burning. The Eternal Conflict, it seemed, had finally come to an end, and Lucithel's fears were completely unfounded. It was time to bring their brother home, and remind him why he was on the right side... In the Dock …the severed head of Sachael brought an end to such plans. No sooner had Isodael and Regael volunteered to go and bring him back did they see the messenger's capital flying through the gates of heaven and into the Crystal Arch. Knowing this was Lucithel's doing, they heeded Sachael's dying breaths, following a trail of scattered ash to the planet Euratius, where Lucithel had been grounded since destroying the planet many years ago. The ash had collected on his wings and prevented him from flying, so when the Aesir approached him, he was in no position to resist. Lucithel explained that he had told Sachael to leave before killing him, but neither Isodael nor Regael were prepared to accept any excuses for this behaviour. They took the renegade angel back to Elysium and into Mezarel's Courts of Justice to be tried for his misdeed. The spirit of Sachael taunted him as he entered the dock, which he ignored. At the trial, Mezarel (ceremonially blindfolded) asked Lucithel what came upon him to do what he just did. He refused to answer the Aesir's question three times. Anariel then offered to speak to Lucithel outside, and promised Lucithel that there was nothing to worry about, and that he could be taken seriously. Lucithel accepted this and came clean about what he had seen. Expecting a decent explanation, the Court was disappointed when the Lightbringer brought up age-old stories about the Void and how dangerous they were, but were disgusted when Lucithel confessed to using Final Judgement on a planet full of potential innocents. For Duterius, this was pretty much the last straw. The Archangel of Valour interrupted Lucithel from the side, stating that he was talking nonsense, and even raised the idea that Lucithel was going mad. Lucithel furiously defended himself, and even challenged Anariel to testify before the Court, as she was the only one of the Big Three Aesir who had seen the Garor Uprising firsthand and even dealt with the Garor Chieftain, Arta'Zul. In a rare moment of consensus, however, Anariel sided with Duterius, and made it seem as if the Garor had been killed when she expelled them from Heaven, rather than merely banished and plotting their revenge with the caustic energies of the Void at their disposal. Shocked at how everyone was against him, Lucithel's true emotions poured out. He went on a diatribe against his brothers and sisters in the Aegis Council, accusing Duterius of ignorance and Anariel of hypocrisy, and also of displaying the same pompous attitude that led to the expulsion of the Garor; in effect accusing everyone of creating their own problem. Infuriated, Duterius declared that Lucithel had "insulted" the Council and, drawing his sword, attempted to subdue him. The two archangels became locked in conflict, despite Anariel's attempts to pacify them and Mezarel's furious calls for order. They were acting just like demons, arguing among one another. Duterius summoned a halo, intending to imprison the renegade angel within it, but Lucithel slashed it in half. The Courts of Justice rocked back and forth under the stress of their conflict, and Anariel, realising they would destroy everything if left alone, summoned her holy magic and locked them both inside halos of light. The casting left her exhausted, so Veritan converted some of his light into life force for her, which she thanked him earnestly for. Despite Anariel's intervention, the noise of their conflict had reached the Holy Sanctuary, and Olyrin entered the Courts of Justice demanding an explanation. Betrayed Dissatisfied with Lucithel's version of events, the Highfather ordered the Lightbringer to cease all talk of the Void, lest he pollute Heaven with senseless lies. Despite the Aesir's pleas to be heard out, the arguments of Duterius and Mezarel proved more pervasive. Meinolf even chipped in (desperately trying to salvage the theory Irmhild proved wrong - that Hell "couldn't exist"), saying that if the Void were so powerful they would have acted by now. Irmhild herself secretly knew this was fallacious reasoning, but kept silent out of loyalty, only to have her thoughts echoed by Lucithel, who charged that the Void didn't have to throw all they had now to be powerful. His arguing back with heavenly authority did not go well for him. Saddened by how events had seemingly conspired against him, Lucithel abandoned the Aesir, shattering his sword and exiting Elysium for good. It was the last time they'd see him as their brother. Elva and the other gods called out to him, but their voices were drowned out by the movement of large swathes of Vanir, who followed the fallen archangel into the Great Unknown. Once they were out of sight and reach of the Pantheon, Lucithel's Crown of Flames - which signified his rank of Aesir - disappeared, having progressively lost its fire the further from the mindlink he drifted. Severing all ties to Heaven, his wings turned grey and cold. He became a Fallen Aesir, and, in his solitude, pondered the fate of the Universe. He was surprised to see that many of the Vanir had followed him, believing his cause to be just and right. Although they followed with conviction, they missed the kingdom they enjoyed back at Heaven. Lucithel was convinced that he had to build his followers a new kingdom, and thus was proclaimed First Lord of the Outlands. Establishing the Grey Temple, Lucithel could spectate affairs of both Heaven and Hell, while having a base from which he could give orders to his Vanir (now known as Urori). With the Urori at his back, Lucithel was able to continue his crusades against demons, committed to defeating them wherever they were found, though no longer in the service of angels - and no longer beholden to them. He had no compunctions about killing any angels that got in his way, nor about destroying entire planets if he saw it fit. He was, essentially, free to sin as he pleased. Over the years, Lucithel grew more and more resentful towards the Heavens for casting him out, and he started ordering the Urori to openly attack Vanir and demons alike. Some had compunctions about attacking their own kind, only for Lucithel to snap that they were no longer angels anyway. The Lord of the Outlands captured messenger angels, who often wore little armour, and had their wings ripped off to stop them from flying before throwing them into the abyss of space and watching them fall endlessly. The torture only got worse as his heart grew darker. Reaching Pandemonium, the epicenter of Creation, Lucithel took up its eponymous Fortress for himself. He believed there was some sort of link between it and the Void, and he wanted to investigate the link as much as possible. Knowing Creation involved both Light and Shadow, Lucithel dispatched several Urori into the Pandemonium Tunnel to scout for clues. As his forces grew in number, and the wild beasts native to Pandemonium were bent to Lucithel's will, his dissatisfaction with the Universe as it was grew insufferable. Then, one of the Urori scouts showed him a vision: the armies of Hell were scattered and leaderless. As long as they remained so, Elysium would be the dominant power of Creation, and continue to endanger everyone with their overconfidence. Lucithel continued the vision, knowing that without the demons to keep the angels on their toes, the Void would continue to grow in the background, waiting to strike both of them dead in an instant. The angels were supposed to be the guardians of Order and the Light, yet they would not do their duty...they would not go after the Void. And if they wouldn't do it, he'd do it for them, in his own way. No more games. Fall of the Pantheon See main article: Fall of the Pantheon Tearing his darkest thoughts out of his body and allowing them to manifest in the physical realm, Lucithel gave in to his hate, growing into a monstrous, two-horned demon. Dazzling the Urori with his power, he corrupted all of them and brought them under his thrall. Announcing their time was nigh, he entered the depths of Tartarus via Pandemonium with an army of Urori demons at his side, as if they were escorting a King. Millions of demons suddenly rematerialised, drawn to emissions of Lucithel's hel like never before. He gave his new converts a choice: join his unholy crusade, or be destroyed. There were no two ways about this one, and thus, the baleful dark god Sargamon '''was born. His coronation as Ruler of the Underworld took place the next day, in which he was crowned on the Seat of Flames while basking in the hel-filled cheers of the demons present. With his dark magic he forged an army of Hellspawns with which he would challenge the Aesir, and put an end to their hypocritical games. The skies turned blood red on the day of the invasion. Easily slaughtering the Vanir garrison with their new - and improved - hel magic, the demons besieged the walls. Sargamon, who was so involved in the building process, knew all of Heavens ins and outs. The gates of Heaven broke apart, and the demons ran inside like schoolkids on the last day of term. Distressed, the Pantheon sent Anariel, Duterius and Mezarel, their greatest remaining warriors, to defeat the demons while the Fusion Staff recharged. Fools. Perfect opportunity. While the Big Three led the loyalist Vanir into the fray, Sargamon snuck round the back of the Silver City and made his way across the Aural Plains to the city of Aurealis, where the Holy Sanctuary was located. Entering it, he demanded control of the Fusion Staff. Olyrin ordered Sargamon to leave, accusing him of defiling the Sanctuary with his evil presence. Sargamon refused to leave, so Olyrin simply gripped it tighter and would not let go. In response, the fallen Aesir summoned his hel and threw a crest of flames at Elva, bringing the goddess tumbling to her knees. Laughing at her misfortune, Sargamon added more and more crests, leaving her writhing in pain. Outraged, Olyrin ordered an all-out attack against Sargamon, with the gods blasting spells at him. All the while they called out for the help, screaming the names of the Aesir, who had never once failed them...until now. Sargamon seared their bodies until he broke their will to fight, reducing them to nothing but piles of matter. Irmhild was the last to go down, fighting Sargamon until the very end. She blocked his '''pyrobursts '''and '''firestreaks, and even turned some of his attacks onto him. Finally, with an almighty heave, she cleaved him and took his chest off, only for it to reveal a burning furnace of endless hate. Paralysed, Sargamon recovered, and taking advantage of Irmhild's paralysis, destroyed her. By destroying their corporeal forms Sargamon believed he had won, but in reality, had allowed the gods' souls to escape. They coalesced into the Fusion Staff, rendering it useless to Sargamon's grasp (the soul of a god is incorruptible). Annoyed, he blasted at the staff, attempting to rid the staff's keystones of their presence in order to corrupt the stones, and then use their power to obliterate the souls of the gods. His resulting helblast not only forced them to hold on tighter, but also knocked the stones out of Elysium and into the blackness of the galaxy below. Roaring in disappointment at having been foiled, Sargamon ordered his Marching Horde to assemble and attack all corners of Creation in search of the stones. Seeing the massive figure of their lost brother emerge from the Pantheon, the Aesir knew what had happened. The Pantheon was destroyed, and the Light had lost. Duterius sounded his the Horn of Triumph (as it was so inappropriately-named) and ordered the remaining Aesir to fall back, and that they would live to fight another day. Regael, taking one last look back at his now ruined homeland, wept when he saw the once-illustrious cities of Elysium burning away. His sister Anariel comforted him, reminding everyone that while weeping may endureth for a night, surely, joy would come in the morning - and one day, by means of sheer will, it will be morning again. Category:Aeon of the Champion articles Category:Aeon of the Champion timeline Category:Full story plot summaries Category:Smurf Manian's articles